FactWatch Hosts Third Workshop on the Basics of Fact-checking and Combating Misinformation
The “Fact-Checking Basics: A Beginner’s Workshop on Combating Misinformation” workshop series is a FactWatch undertaking that builds on the feedback and results of each subsequent training program to improve and enhance the knowledge delivery of one of the nation’s first established fact-checking training workshops.
Funded by the Asia Foundation, this workshop series is designed to empower young students and journalists with basic fact-checking skills and ideologies that are crucial to navigating an increasingly digitized world of information. Following the success of the first and second workshops in August and September respectively, the third workshop of this series took place on 27th October 2022 at the ULAB Research Building in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
The workshop delved into the prevalence of misinformation in social media in today’s times, and how a fact-checker can utilize the right tools in combating this spread and ensure a safer, rumor-free internet. The modules were facilitated by Prof. Sumon Rahman, Nasrin Jabin, Shuvashish Das Ray Dip, and Rahul Roy, all members of the experienced FactWatch team. This workshop also featured a module taught by special guest facilitator, Qadaruddin Shishir, the Bangladesh Editor of AFP FactCheck.
For this third workshop, FactWatch hosted the event through a hybrid medium for the first time, offering participants the opportunity to join both in-person and virtually, through Zoom. The participants enthusiastically participated in the modules and shared their thoughts, ideas, and concerns, allowing for a constructive learning experience based on many real-life examples. Not only did the workshop provide an integrated learning environment for capacity building and skill development, but also provided participants with the opportunity to network with both professional journalists and interested fact-checkers.
This workshop series will continue with at least three more workshops planned for the upcoming months, with the next program taking place in November. In the coming months and throughout this entire workshop series, FactWatch wishes to empower and engage young fact-checking hopefuls with the knowledge and capability of combating misinformation, while providing them a platform to connect and build a network of industry connections.
